Despite living in San Francisco’s shadow, South Bay health officials were always one step ahead of the City by the Bay.

Forty-two more people have also tested positive for the highly contagious virus, placing the total number of confirmed cases at 1,484.

The county’s chief health officer talks about what would have happened had she not issued the nation’s first sweeping stay-at-home order. 

No new deaths were reported, so the local death toll remains at 39. Meanwhile, the county reports that nearly 11,000 people have been tested.

Santa Clara County is gearing up for a surge of patients as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout Silicon Valley.

Local health officials finally released data about the total number of people tested and other critical data related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Public health officials reported 66 new cases this afternoon, bringing the total up to 956—a 255 percent increase over last week.

While the county previously reported how many patients had been laid up in hospital beds, it stopped sharing that number on its new web portal.

The project aims to help the public understand just how important it is to “flatten the curve” of the now-ubiquitous epidemiological graph.

Public health officials announced the revised mandate at a news conference in which they also unveiled new social distancing criteria.

Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody issues a new stay-at-home order that extends through at least the third day of May.

Residents are directed to stay home unless they need to venture out for essential errands, such as a trip to the grocery store or the pharmacy.

So far, 591 people in the county have tested positive, though officials expect the actual number is much higher due to the lack of testing.

Health officials unveiled the latest count on a new dashboard—part of an effort by the county to be more transparent about its pandemic response.

Dr. Jennifer Tong, who’s leading the county’s surge plan for all local hospitals, said she expects patients to start filling the beds by Tuesday.

But if people ignore public health guidelines about staying six feet apart and at home as much as possible, as many as 16,000 could die.